Robert Hart Joins The Circus

December 7, 2023

The world has yet to hear new songs Robert Hart must contribute to the MANFRED MANN‘S EARTH BAND canon after serving with them for more than a dozen years, yet the singer’s been owning the ensemble’s classic repertoire from day one – just like he did when he joined BAD COMPANY in 1993 to first go on tour with the veterans and then record “Company Of Strangers” and “Stories Told & Untold” before becoming, on Kenney Jones’s request, a part of THE JONES GANG with whom he laid down the “Any Day Now” album. Robert penned and spearheaded a couple of all-stars charity singles, 2002’s “It’s All About The Children” and “We Will Remember Them” in 2009, yet Hart’s solo platters were few and far between, four longplay in all, with the fifth scheduled to appear on January 26th.

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John Etheridge’s BLUE SPIRITS Trio To Release A Concert Report

December 6, 2023

Trying to pigeonhole John Etheridge with regard to genre is among of the most futile endeavors in the universe: that is the fact even those who’s familiar with the British guitarist only by his work with SOFT MACHINE – he joined the band in 1975 to lay down "Softs" and go with them on a few tours, one of which resulted in the issue of "Alive & Well" before leaving only to return to the fold in its LEGACY incarnation with 2005’s "Live In Zaandam" and remain on board to this day, his licks very prominent on 2023’s “Other Doors” – know ever so well. John’s unique blend of blues, jazz and rock saw him play with many a luminaries who wanted to shine brighter and welcomed his six strings into their sound – especially, violinists Darryl Way, Stéphane Grappelli, Nigel Kennedy and Ric Sanders, although the last shared leader’s duties with the axeman in 2ND VISION, the first ensemble to be considered his own, just like Andy Summers did on “Invisible Threads” in 1993. Yet there have been another line-up with the veteran at the front, BLUE SPIRITS.

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Albert Hammond Hammers Home New Songs

December 5, 2023

Seventeen songs may seem a few too many for anyone’s album, yet if that anyone is an acclaimed artist and writer who hasn’t issued fresh material in nigh on two decades, some indulgence can be forgivable, and nobody can go wrong with Albert Hammond – for it is him, the creator in question – anyway. One of those performers who pen perennials not only for themselves but also for others, and in Hammond’s case these others include such stars as Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, the soul divas having a hit in 1989 with “It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be” which bears Albert’s credit, and of course, there are “The Air That I Breathe” and “When I Need You” which were borrowed from his platters by, respectively, THE HOLLIES and Leo Sayer. But even though the veteran’s recording career started in 1972, his last albums of original music appeared after long waiting periods, and his forthcoming offering is no exclusion.

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Bernard Allison Pays Homage To His Father

December 4, 2023

There were many different routes in life open to Bernard Allison but, being a son of the legendary Luther Allison, he felt obliged to self-learn guitar and follow in his father’s footsteps to become an original blues master in his own right. However, nearing 60 years of age now, the France-based Chicagoan – whose recording career started back in 1990 with an appropriately titled “The Next Generation” – has never forgotten his foremost inspiration in the music field, and is set to honor his pater with a dedicated platter that will be issued on January 26th.

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Rick Wakeman’s Palladium Run Forms A Box Set

December 3, 2023

Once upon a time – or, to be precise, almost a decade ago – Rick Wakeman suggested this scribe should go and see a doctor about having more than a hundred of his records. Only the ivories wizard doesn’t make it easier for his longtime followers when unique concert performances get documented and released as alluring packages such as one which will be issued on February 16th as a souvenir of the shows veteran staged a year earlier.

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